Recently, "Afterword to the Doctoral Dissertation of a Cowherd Baby" was on fire, and the afterword of this paper came from Xiao Qinghe's doctoral dissertation "'Heavenly Society' and "My Party": A Study on the Formation and Interaction of Catholic Groups in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties (1580-1722)", which told his journey from a cowherd to his admission to Peking University.
"My mother has told me more than once that she can't die, that she has to endure, that she has to persevere, that she wants to keep me in school, that she wants her two children to live well." The afterword of this paper reads and cried a lot of netizens.
Xiao Qinghe studied under Professor Sun Shangyang of Peking University in September 2003 and received his Ph.D. in July 2009. Xiao Qinghe's doctoral dissertation was selected as a national outstanding doctoral dissertation approved by the Ministry of Education and the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council.
According to the official website of the School of Letters of Shanghai University, Xiao Qinghe is now a professor (Zheng Gao) in the History Department of Shanghai University and the deputy director of the Research Center for Religion and Chinese Society at Shanghai University.
According to the Shanghai University Newspaper, Xiao Qinghe was born in 1980 in a small mountain village in Qianshan, Anhui Province, and when he was 8 years old, his grandfather died of illness, and there was no savings in the family, thanks to a doctor who funded 20 yuan to do a funeral for his grandfather. He won the second place in the township in the primary examination, but he was unable to pay the tuition fee because his family could not afford it. His peers had gone to his new school, and he had to look for books while herding cattle. That fall, he memorized an entire book of song poems. The following spring, thanks to the efforts of his remarried mother, he finally returned to school. In 1999, he was admitted to the Department of Philosophy of Peking University, and in 2003, he was exempted from the examination to study for graduate students in the department with honors, and in 2005, he was transferred from a master's student to a doctoral student, and in 2006, he was qualified as a doctoral student jointly trained by Peking University and the University of Chinese, Hong Kong.
Part of the afterword to his doctoral dissertation reads: That fall, my peers were all attending a new school, and they lived an exciting, imaginative and yearning middle school life; but I could only herd cattle at home. The cow is a very spiritual animal, and I gradually become good friends with it; slowly, I can put it on the mountain and leave it alone. Because, in this way, I read the book myself. That autumn, I memorized a whole book of song. Until now, all the song words I can remember have been memorized at this time. Whenever dusk came, I went home with the cows. The uncle who raised this cow with my family always criticized me mercilessly for not taking the cattle seriously and the cows not full. Full of grievances, I don't argue, just thinking, I am not suitable for cattle herding.
That is, the year I was admitted to junior high school, my father also raised a pig. Nor did I beg him to sell the pigs to my schooling. Because I know that even if the tuition is paid this time, there will be a next time.
Fortunately, through my mother's efforts and the support of my mother's remarried uncle, his friend, I was finally back in school. My mother's husband, my stepfather, was very dedicated and very hard at my schooling, even though he sometimes couldn't help but be provoked by others to beat up on my mother. My mother has told me more than once that she can't die, that she has to endure, that she has to persevere, because she wants me to go to school, that she wants her two children to live well.
During those difficult and difficult days, my biggest fear was not my grades, but the beginning of each semester. Because, the tuition fee problem often makes me feel helpless. Often at the beginning of school, I wait for my mother to come by the side of the road. Often it is the desire to see through, and often the desire to cry without tears. When I was hungry, I took a bite of the dry food my father had made for me; when I was thirsty, I had to endure it. The roads were dusty and how much I hated cars at that time! I hate that they drive past me in a majestic way, leaving behind a nasty cloud of dust!
During high school, teachers and classmates helped me more. The new principal often gave me 100 yuan, and the homeroom teacher, English teacher, etc. often let me eat at their house. My classmates often helped me. On the weekend, the students did not dislike the dilapidation of my house and came to my house to play together. The neighbors were also curious to ask them: "His family is so poor, what are you here for?" ”
In the 1999 college entrance examination, I estimated that the score might be 7 or 80 points more than the key line. The president filled in Peking University for me. He said that if he couldn't pass the exam, he would let me re-read for free. The class teacher is more cautious. Because I volunteered to fill out the Diplomatic Academy in early admission. I still remember the class teacher taking me to Hefei and meeting the admissions teacher. As a result, the teacher said I was too short (I was 1 meter 65). The class teacher pleaded, "He's still a child, and he'll grow up." "In the end, it didn't work. The class teacher was worried that I might not be able to enter Peking University, which was a pity.
But God cares for the poor. I was actually admitted to Peking University.
After coming to Peking University, the previous worries became unnecessary. A family in our county began to selflessly support me. At the same time, the class teacher also learned about my situation and often helped me. Because there were various grants at the school, as well as various scholarships, my financial situation began to improve. At the beginning of my freshman year, based on my grades and family status, I received a Mercedes-Benz scholarship for four consecutive years. (It was also during the winter holidays of my freshman year that my family had electricity, even though our village had electricity very early; before, I had been reading under an oil lamp.) In my senior year, I applied for a loan on the one hand, and on the other hand, I was very honored to receive a national first-class scholarship. In 2003, I was given the opportunity to take the exam to graduate school in our department. I am very grateful for the help of my supervisor, Professor Sun Shangyang, who was converted from a master's student to a doctoral student in 2005. In 2006, with the selfless help of Master Sun and the support of Professor Lo Lung Kwong of the University of Chinese of Hong Kong, I was qualified to jointly train doctoral students at Peking University and the University of Chinese of Hong Kong. From 2006 to 2008, I lived and studied in Hong Kong.
To this day, except for the two years in Hong Kong, I have lived at Peking University for 8 years. During this period, there are more joys than tears, and happiness is more than pain. However, when I think about the situation at home, I can't help but be very painful. Especially when I thought that I was not yet able to let my mother enjoy her old age in peace, I felt very guilty.
There is a passage on Xiao Qinghe's blog: "Those who work hard will have a long-term reputation; if they are all ups and downs with the world and do not establish themselves, although they are not strange at that time, there will be no future generations." "In today's society, the pace is accelerating, there are many temptations, and many people are greedy for labor saving and quick success. Xiao Qinghe said, "Liberal arts research is based on a large number of literature and needs to be accumulated. If you want to make a work with depth, thickness, inheritance, and vitality, you must have the spirit of 'bench to sit cold for ten years'. ”